


Digimon: World Jogress

by Worldofglassvii



Category: Digimon - All Media Types
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-16
Updated: 2020-08-23
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:00:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 16,932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23683540
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Worldofglassvii/pseuds/Worldofglassvii
Kudos: 1





	1. Chapter 1

Chapter one. 

The night sky glistened against the water, the full moon casting enough light to see the surrounding area. A small camp fire burns out, not large enough to burn for long, and barely big enough to see.  
Around the burning ash, three figures begin to raise, covering themselves with hoods. 

The first, a young man, age 17, covered his eyes with goggle's. His burgundy hair poked out of the hood's front. To his right, the figure only stood about a meter tall, it's hood covering most of it's face, with the outline of pointed ears protruding from the back of it's head. It's hands were a light blue, and a little horn was visible, right in the place of a nose.

The third figure was even shorter than the last, but it's body dragged behind it. Green antennae drooped around it's head, and had a purple mandible. 

"Alright, let's head back," the boy said, and the two nodded back at him. 

The boy looks up to see a river, a bridge, and a battle scarred town. Smoke rose from some buildings, a visible flame burning inside. Debris littering the streets, leaving the town looking like a warzone. 

And in ways, it was a warzone. Not a war fought with guns and tanks and soldiers, but a war between monsters and men. 

The whole world didn't look like this, but it wasn't an odd occurence to find a town or city on the brink of destruction. Some would flee to safe zones, others would stay and hide. Even fewer would stay and fight. Most stayed to themselves, taking care of their families and avoiding all overs. 

And then there was this boy. 

The three began to walk towards the bridge, looking to cross to the town. They kept their heads down, but the boy would glance up from time to time, pressing a button on his goggles. Only he could see what was happening when he did this. His vision would zoom in, and he could get a good look at what they were closing in on. 

The first thing to catch his eye was a bird. Not just any bird, a large black bird, close to 4 meters wingspan. It's body was covered in black flames, and it was perched on a building straight across from them. 

"Saberdramon," he said to his comrades, "It's watching us, but I don't believe it's too worried about what we're doing." He began to scan the area again, but didn't see anything else that would pose a threat. 

"I would advise us avoid combat as much as possible," the smallest one said with a firm but soft, almost childlike voice. 

"I'm with Wormmon on this, Atlas," the other said, "Let's just hurry back for now." About that time something caught their eye, and they all became defensive. The blue came from the sky, and as it closed in, they realized it was a familiar face. 

"Tsukaimon," Atlas sighed, "Why aren't you with Akiko?" Tsukaimon was hovering right around Atlas's head. He was a small creature, with a tan belly, his back a deep purple. He had wings protruding from his head, keeping him afloat. 

"She was worried about you all, so I came to check on you." His voice even higher pitched than Wormmon's. 

"Head on back, we'll be right behind you." Atlas's voice gave away his frustration, knowing Akiko was left with no one to protect her in case someone or something attacked. They had left to gather supplies, and thought being a smaller group would be more beneficial for them. Now he had to hurry back, which in the world he lived in, was never a good thing. 

Tsukaimon floated right past them and headed across the river. Being a dark Digimon had its advantages, like being less likely to be attacked by the others. 

"Veemon, Wormmon, let's hurry. "

\--------

The bridge was long, but the Atlas kept the lead and directed his two partners with perfection, letting them know where to hide as the ran across the bridge to where Akiko was hiding. The three of them had spent years together, so their movements and understanding of each other was flawless. 

It was hard for Atlas not to think back to a time when it was fun to be a tamer, before it was a war game.

\--------

"It's Veemon and Wormmon, they're my partners!" A twelve year old Atlas proclaimed, holding a V-Pet Digivices in each hand.

His parents worked all the time, and he spent most of his time home, with his digivices. He always knew there was something special about them. A few days later he found out why.

One night, his two V-Pets began to glow, and suddenly jumped into the air, joining. A black device came floating down, similar to a smart phone. It landed right on Atlas's lap. 

As soon as he touched it, he was pulled in, transporting through what he could describe as a matrix. It felt like as soon as he was pulled in, he was thrown out, onto a rough ground surrounded by trees.

\---------

Atlas snapped back from his day dream, looking around to see how long he was on auto-pilot. They were almost off the bridge, closing in on land. Saberdramon still rested in the same place, something else had caught its attention. Nothing in front or behind them, they we home free. 

They had left Akiko in a small abandon building just a few blocks past the bridge, away from any conflict or enemy digimon. They needed a few supplies but didn't want to travel in a large group. His team was the better picked one. Tsukaimon could digivolve, but Akiko's other partner; Atlas shuddered at the thought; had been returned to it's digi egg state after being defeated in battle. It had been an egg for two years now, with no sign of it hatching.

Once across the bridge, the group headed straight for an alleyway, Atlas scanning the area for any threats. It was strangely empty, very few digimon around. He didn't keep up with the battles or what was going on, he was content just surviving. 

Akiko didn't agree with him, and wanted to join the resistance along with two of the other digidestined that were leading it. Atlas did want to help them, but too much doubt kept him from joining. He promised he'd escort her to check on her family, and then they'd part ways once they met up with the others. 

It was better this way, though. Atlas had already let them down enough, he wouldn't put the burden on them again. 

They took their time once they were in the alley, and pulled their hoods off. Veemon's ears popped out, pointing behind his head as always, and they twitched alittle with freedom. Wormmon's hood flung back, his antennae feeling around the area. Atlas shook his head, riding himself of 'hood hair's, his burgandy strands pointed around, with a streak of white going down the middle. He took his goggles off, placing them on his head. From his pocket, he pulled out his digivice.

A digivice was more than just a means for a digimon to evolve. It could essentially be used as a smart phone, with the ability to send emails and text, as well as make calls. He brought up his messages to t ed at Akiko, as it alerted him of two new messages; one from Jude, another from Kenta. Both were digidestined still fighting the good fight, trying to save the world. 

He began to open Jude's but stopped, instead opening Kenta's. He was checking in on the two, making sure they were doing okay. Atlas knew that Kenta was too good a friend to try to guilt him, so he replied a short "we're okay", and sent it. He wouldn't open Jude's, it would start a fight now, and he would see him soon enough as it was. He scrolled down to Akiko's name, replied to her saying, "be there soon", and placed it back in his pocket. 

Behind him, he could hear Veemon stretching, and the two of them having small talk. Tsukaimon's shadow floated around them, him flying around 5 meters above them. 

He was almost done, almost free from the mission. He was relieved. He would miss his friends, but it couldn't be helped. Sure, Veemon and Wormmon were strong, incredibly so, but his judgement put others at risk. He knew the two of then wanted to continue to fight, but they wouldn't leave his side. And he couldn't anymore. 

About the time his head cleared they had reached their hideout. In a town that had been a battleground, finding abandon buildings wasn't a hard task. Atlas knocked three times, then twice more, he paused before knocking an additional three times, then opened the door. Tsukaimon had already flew in through a window, resting beside the hooded Akiko. 

Akiko was hunched over a lamp, holding her digiegg against her. When she noticed them, she turned and stood up, removing her hood. She stood around a meter and a half tall, her hoodie draped over most of her body. Akiko was a fairly dreary looking girl, dark eyeliner, dark lip stick, and a very serious resting face. Despite all this, she was a very sweet girl, even though she didn't like showing it. Her hair was shoulder length, a blueish black tone to it. She was the one who always held them all together, in her own sort of way. She kept him and Jude from tearing each other apart, kept Kenta from getting lost, being as carefree has he was. And she kept Naota and Toshiro in check. She use to, anyway. Now, she was heading back to help Kenta and Jude. And she wanted Atlas to stay with them. 

She turned and gave a half smile, before leaning over and grabbing her things. 

"Jude called," she turned her head when she said that, "said he's set up base one town over. Said he could use our help." She paused. Waiting to hear anything from Atlas that reminded her of the old Atlas. Then she sighed and continued, "Me and Tsukaimon will be some help, but you three could really-"

"I can't," He cut her off before she could finish. "You'll be with Jude and Kenta, hell, Kenta said they've had even more digidestined join up with them. You'll be right at home with them."

She walked up to him and grabbed onto his shoulder. "It's not a team without the leader. They need you, I need you." He jerked away from her, heading back to the door. 

"We best be off."

\-----

The world was different now, which is to be expected when two realities become one. Alittle of each world was fused, and some just changed completely. Digital forest emerged in the middle of cities, and digital gates made traveling the world quick and effortless. Meat began growing from the ground, like vegetables, and crops grew faster and more plentiful. Because of the new forest, the atmosphere began to repair itself. In a few months both global warming and world hunger were both things of the past. The digital world almost saved the Earth, if not for the war that tore the rest of the world apart. 

There were still some peace in the world. The war hadn't spread everywhere, and the places it hadn't were prospering. As Atlas and Akiko walked through a digital gate near the ruined town they were in, they emerged into a large field, digital forest surrounding it, and a small town in the center. This was where Jude had set up base, and a place that was hard to find, even the gate was hidden. This was what the world could have been. Peaceful, humans and digimon living together. 

They continued to walk toward the town, Wormmon and Tsukaimon played a bit on the trip. It was good to see them have alittle fun. They all had been on the road for 2 years now, and Atlas couldn't remember the last time they all smiled. Even Akiko, who was against showing very much emotion, had a small, but noticable, smile on her face. Atlas wished she would just stay here, and not get involved in anymore violence. Her team wasn't the best in terms of combat, and he didn't want to lose anyone else. 

Before they made it to town, a group of men ran towards them, guns in hand. Behind them were a smaller group of digimon of various species. Veemon was the first to push himself in front of the party, ready to fight if needed. Wormmon wasn't too far behind him, as willing as his partner. Everyone tensed up, and Atlas pulled his goggles down.

"Stand down!" The order came through quick and loud, and all guns were rested. Through the crowd came three familiar faces. The first they noticed was the little orangeish yellow dinosaur, the same height as Veemon. Beside it was a light blue fox, with a yellow belly. Akiko reached out and patted the two of them on the head.

"Agumon, Gabumon, it's nice to see you again." They both looked up at her and grinned. Atlas turned his head and groaned a bit. If they two were here, that means their tamer was to. About that time Jude step into the clearing, and gave Akiko a hug. She embraced him, but quickly pulled away, nodding over toward Atlas. Jude was alittle taller than Atlas, and had quite a bit more bulk to him. He was a darker complexion, which clashed with his light blond hair. 

They both turned to look at each over, and in the same moment, both threw a punch. 

Atlas noticed quick how much Jude had changed in two years. When they were younger they were about the same build, but now it to everything he had not to fall to the ground. It hurt like hell. 

But it looked as though Jude could say the same, his face squinted as he pushed back. He looked around for a moment, seeing the shock on all the new comers faces, and their partners just shaking their heads. And then they both looked at Akiko, and they knew they were in for it. 

\------

Back at the base, the two boys had began to recover from the beating Akiko gave them. They sat in a small office, the door pulled to. There was a desk in the center of the room, with a chair behind it, and two in front of it. Nothing decorated the walls, and the only thing on the desk was a picture of the three of them, plus three more, from back before all of this started. Through a large window Atlas could see the partner digimon enjoying a small park behind the building. 

The three of them, however, weren't having a joyous conversation. Jude sat behind the desk, his hand propped up on his elbows, blocking most of his face. Akiko sat in one of the chairs in front of him, while Atlas leaned against the wall. 

"We just don't have the man power anymore," Jude said, his tone very dire, "We're losing alot of people, and digimon. And we're not even sure who the enemy is anymore. Everyone is just fighting. Hell, all the factions that were fighting in the digital world have split up, making new factions and we don't know who's who. We've even had enemies join up with us, wanting all the fighting to stop." He rotated his chair to look out the window. "They say the two worlds coming together saved us from ourselves. If it wasn't for the fighting, I believe humans and digimon could live together, in peace." He turned back around and opened his desk, pulling out what looked to be a flash drive, and handed it to Akiko.

"And this is?" She took it and looked it over. It had what looked like a Kuramon drawn on the casing. 

"Kenta found a way to recover all of Kuramon's memories, as well as the ability to multiply, like it did before." Both of them opened their eyes in shock of what Jude was saying. Atlas stepped toward the desk and slammed his hands down.

"Are you guys crazy? Do you not remember the last time it multiplied?" 

"It was under the influence of a virus last time, it didn't have control. This time it will have control, and we can use it to help us win this thing." He looked over at Akiko, who was staring down at the digiegg in her lap. "It's your call, Akiko. It's your partner." Atlas slammed his hand down again, turned and headed towards the door. 

"I'm out of here, don't drag me into this." Before he could make it out of the room, a hand grabbed his arm pulling him back around. It was Akiko, and she was crying, which was extremely rare. Before she could talk, Jude cut it. 

"Omnimon is damaged, Agumon and Gabumon can't hold the Jogress for very long anymore. They've ran themselves to death, battle after battle." He paused and gripped his hands together in anger. "They're doing everything that they can to keep going. I'm pushing them too hard. They think that since I'm the leader..." he paused and looked at Atlas. "We need a real leader, Atlas. We need you." 

He paused for a moment, looked at his two closest friends sitting in front of him in pain, then he turned, and left the room.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"The world isn't always about winning. You'll be handed some losses, and some will hurt. It's up to you to decide who they make you." Mason Callum told his son, a young Atlas, after his first loss at a Digimon card game tournament. He patted his son's head, as the tears built up in his eyes. He knew Atlas couldn't win in this level of competition, but he needed to lose, to learn that winning wasn't the only cards life handed you. 

Mason Callum was an architect, and he traveled around wherever he was needed. But he recently landed a dream job, where he could be with his family, all he had to do was move to Japan. He hadn't told Atlas yet. The boy was good at making friends, but he held onto the ties so much, he knew it would hurt him to tell him they were moving to the other side of the world. 

But, sooner or later, he would have to. Hopefully he would learn this lesson from today and carry it with him forever. 

\-----

Atlas walked around a small park in the center of the base. He wanted to head out, and never look back, but Veemon and Wormmon were still spending time with the others, and he didn't want to pull them away just yet. He even had a gut feeling of leaving without them, but he couldn't bring himself to do it 

Everything about this town was digital, though you could only tell because of small shifts here and there. Even though it was digital in nature, the birds still rested on the tree branches, the insects still crawled on the flowers. The world was more natural now, and in better shape than ever. If only this was the was it would stay. But he knew there was an enemy, tearing this world apart, trying claim it as it's own. And all good things come to an end. 

\-----

Far away from the battlegrounds that covered the Earth, in an empty field, other than one manor, surrounded by a large fence. All at once, digital shifts started opening all around the manor, with both man and Digimon walking out of them. On the roof of the manor, stood 2 figures, one man, one Digimon. 

The man, was the same age as Atlas, stood next to a digimon that was half black, half white, split down the middle. It's hands were covered by two other digimon's heads, one called Darkdramon, the other BachoLeomon. It towered over the fields as everyone approached. As they did, the two began to enter the manor.

They entered a large dining room, with a table in the center that could hold 30 heads. The digimon took the head chair, and the man the chair to his right. The doors on the opposite side of the room opened, and the crowd began to enter. The first few were human, middle aged, business suits, each took their respective seat. After they were seated, a group of digimon walked in. The first looked like a vampire, the next, like an elegant woman. After her was a knight in pink armor, and an angel, split down the middle black and white. 

Behind them, three more entered. One looked like a jester, the other two were men in suits. One of the men, the last to enter, was different from the first group to enter. The suit he wore was loose fitting, draped over him. His hair was a blueish black, and about shoulder length. His stood hunch back, leaning over himself. He had a bit of stubble on his chin, and glasses resting on his nose. He looked to be mid twenties, and had an odd aura to him. 

All had been seated when the digimon at the head of the table stood. He looked around the room, his one eye bouncing around in his helmet. 

"Thank you, everyone, for joining us here today. We are excited to hear how things fair for you all." As soon as he finished, one of the business men near the front of the table stood, placing his hand on the table in fist.

"You told us there was profit in joining you! Our stocks have bottomed out since you brought your war here. We want out." At that time a blade came from the digimon, striking down the man. He pulled the blade back and shook the blood from it. 

"Quite uncalled for, eh Chaosmon?" The young man glared up at him, arms crossed in his chair. 

"Was there anyone else who agreed with him?" He looked around the room. All the humans, save the young man, were looking down at the table, visually trembling. "Now, where were we?"

"There have been no strange anomalies in the network, everything has been normal since last report." Another of the men said. 

"Well, what of our allies, have you anything new?" 

"Cut the crap, Chaosmon," the boy stood up, "Has anyone killed Omnimon? Or saw another Perfect Jogress?" 

"My my, Toshiro boy, getting quite ballsy," the jester stood up, walked over to the vampire, and placed his hand on his shoulder. "Myotismon and I have a Jogress that you won't even consider looking at to see if we're what you call 'perfect'." 

"We've checked the readings, Piedmon, you don't meet the requirements." Piedmon jumped across the table, grabbing Toshiro by the collar, lifting him above the table. 

"Maybe your readings are off, what's to say we're not the strongest here?" 

"And who's to say that my two partners, who don't Jogress, can't defeat you?" His face never showing a glimmer of fear. He was a statue, even dangling from this digimon's hand. He was suddenly dropped, landing in his chair, and Piedmon stepped down, back to his seat. At that time, the strange man began to laugh, as he kicked his feet up on the table. 

"I don't think you scare him, Pied, ol' buddy. Toshiro's a tough S.O.B., it's the reason he's at the head of the table." He placed his hands behind his head, "I, for one, came here with some news, not just bitter feelings." He pulled a sphere out of his pocket, and rolled it across the table. When it reached the center, it stopped, and opened up. A small projector was inside, and the view of the rebel base appeared above. "It's no perfect, but it is Omnimon. And the rest of the rebels that continue to try and stop you all." He laughed a bit and leaned forward, "All I need is one of you to go and take care of it for me." 

"If that's all there is to it," the other, not so memorable man started, "why doesn't Examon take care of it himself? Surely he's capable." 

"Hey, I don't question Examon. I'm not sure if you noticed, but he's the size of a building, and I don't have the stones Toshiro has. I'm just here to pass on the news." He grinned as he looked around the room. He knew who would take the information.

"Well, Lillithmon, Mastemon, Crusadermon?" Chaosmon looked at them, as they all sat quietly. Finally Lillithmon began to speak. 

"We know that Piedmon and Myotismon are taking this, they have something to prove and we have our other priorities to deal with." 

"Let's go Piedmon," Myotismon stood and headed towards the door, grabbing the small projector on his way. Piedmon followed behind him, glaring at everyone as he walked by. Once they left, Chaosmon continued.

"This is a good lead, of course, but right now," he glanced down at Toshiro, then back up, "I'm more concerned with the Perfect Jogress hunt. Other than myself, Mastemon, Examon, and Omnimon, no one has appeared, or found the others. You know why we need to find them, right? I need them to join us, not anyone else, and certainly not Omnimon. I'm already having to rid us of him, just to end his interference." 

"Actually, Chaosmon," this time it was Crusadermon speaking up, "you never had said what you are looking for these 'Perfect' Jogress for, or what even makes them 'Perfect'. There are plenty of Jogress digimon, what makes you special?" 

As quickly as the words left her mouth, Chaosmon was above her, his left arm above her head. 

"I'll tell you my need when I damn well please. Mastemon and Examon know the plan, even Omnimon is aware. But you, you pathetic 'Royal Knight', are just a pawn, who I've given some authority to. I can take it all away, just remember that." He jumped back to the head of the table, and called an end to the meeting. Everyone stood, and began to exit. Toshiro stopped on his way out, next to the strange man, who hadn't even stood up yet, and leaned down. 

"I have some numbers I need you to check, Aison, come to my lab before you leave." A smile grew on Aison's face. 

"This is going to be fun." 

\-----

Veemon sat in the grass and stared up at the blue sky. He was enjoying the break, they never seemed to get those anymore. Wormmon was running around with Agumon, Gabumon, and Tsukaimon, getting a bit of play in before they had to leave. Veemon preferred to use his time resting, he was more laid back than the others. He had a lot on his mind, anyway. He wanted to stay, but knew he couldn’t leave Atlas. It was a position he wasn’t too fond of being in. But, here he was with his friends, and no matter how much he hated to fight, he could protect them better here. Atlas felt differently, though. Every since Naota. 

He stood up and began to walk, placing his hand on his chin, thinking of a way to change Atlas’s mind. He knew there was a bigger purpose here, that they were meant to be a part of it. But he couldn’t go against Atlas. It was a troubling situation. He continued to pace until he noticed a pair of feet in front of him, connecting to Gabumon. 

“Atlas will change his mind, Veemon. He cares too much about everyone to just abandon them.” 

“I’m not so sure he will,” he hung his head, shaking it in disagreement. “Naota broke something in him. He’s just not the same anymore.” It had seemed they had caught the attention of the other Digimon, as they all began to circle in together. 

“We’re all still a team, though,” Agumon began, “And after he hears Jude and Kenta’s plan, he’ll come around.” Veemon, Wormmon, and Tsukaimon all looked at Agumon in confusion. 

“A plan? If they had one, why would they hold out on the information?” Veemon shook his head to the side again. 

“Kenta’s the one who came up with it, he’s probably waiting until he comes back from scouting. But there is a plan, and it’ll work.” Veemon wasn’t sure he believed in this plan. Maybe all the doom and gloom had changed him, too. It was hard to find faith in a dark world. He couldn’t wrap his head around hope at the moment, and from the look on everyone’s face, his own shared his feelings. 

“I know we didn’t cause all of this, but are we not part of the problem, too?” He looked around the group, “shouldn’t both worlds split again, and we all go back to our own?” It stung for him to say that. They had been with Atlas for 5 years now. The last thing he wanted was to go separate ways. “We’re all here fighting to protect our tamers, the world, all of that. But are we not causing more harm than good?” 

Wormmon crawled up to Veemon. They were partners, so Veemon knew Wormmon was aware of his doubts. Every since they learned Jogress evolution, they could feel each other’s emotions. So it was no surprise that he knew. 

“But we’re not the problem. We’re fighting for the right side. We can’t doubt ourselves now, not this far in.” 

Veemon wasn’t sure. He needed to think some more. But he knew one thing; Atlas had to change his mind. 

Then they heard the explosion. 

Dust cloud surrounded the head of the base, as the group all headed separate ways, looking for their tamers. 

——— 

The dust had settled as Atlas ran out of the front of the base, goggles pulled down to try and make sense of what was going on. The same men that had stopped them as they entered, lay against the base’s wall, all in rough shape. Atlas could see silhouettes of some of the Digimon that protected this place, but others of enemy Digimon. Directly in front of him was what looked to be Mummymon, holding back the enemy. Atlas assumed it was someone’s partner, and left it at that. He looked around for Veemon and Wormmon, Jude and Akiko, but didn’t see any of them. He began to turn around when Jude came out the door, looking determined to drive this enemy back. They looked each other in the eye, and Jude nodded toward Atlas, confirming the situation, giving off a bit of an ‘I told you so’ attitude, which Atlas shrugged off. 

“Where is everyone?” 

“Knowing Agumon and Gabumon, they’ll be here any second, of say the rest are with them. I told Akiko to stay back, Tsukaimon isn’t a fighter and Kuramon hasn’t hatched yet. It’s realistic up to us to take care of this.” Atlas gritted his teeth but agreed. That’s when their partners showed up. 

“Instantly, the two tamers grabbed their digivices, and pointed them towards their partners, who all began to glow. 

“We have to go al out from the beginning, so straight into Omnimon!” Jude shouted over the noise. 

“We’ll match with Imperialdramon!” A light came out of each Digimon, in which crossed with the other. Their bodies became figments of light, and joined together. Within seconds, two giant figures stood beside Atlas and Jude. The one behind Jude was a bright white, red cape draping over its back. Each arm represented the mega evolution of each Agumon and Gabumon. 

Behind Atlas, the figure was mainly black, with red wings, and a golden crown. It’s right arm had a cannon attached, and a blue tail whipped around behind it. Suddenly, Omnimon raised his Left arm, and a sword appeared out of the WarGraymon helmet. He sliced the air, clearing the smoke. The slice was demanding of attention, it’s presence heavy. 

The two looked around at the damage that was caused. There were casualties, both human and Digimon. Most of the attacking Digimon were ultimate level, with a few lower foot soldiers. In the back of the pack stood three more Digimon. Skull Satamon, Piedmon and Myotismon. 

“They’re one of the factions that have emerged since the start of this. We have to be careful, I’ve got intel saying the can Jogress, too. No telling how strong it is.” 

“Well, there’s one way to find out,”Atlas jumped up, landing in Imperialdramon’s hand, and he lifted him up on his shoulder. Imperialdramon jumped into the air, flying over the battle below, straight to the leaders. Before he got to them, Skull Satamon was next to him, swinging his skull staff like a bat. Imperialdramon focused his cannon, and a beam of light cane out, long enough to be considered a blade, and swung it at his enemy, knocking him into the ground. Atlas looked down, and zoomed in with his goggles, seeing if he was getting back up or not. 

“Think you could fire a proton laser at him without damaging the area?” Proton laser destroyed everything it hit, unless it had the power to block it. Atlas wasn’t sure if the Earth could handle it. 

“I’ve got a better idea,” Imperialdramon focused his light blade at Skull Satamon, and seemingly released it like a missile, not a full power Proton laser, but a powerful weapon either way. Imperialdramon landed past the newly found crater, and a explosion happened behind him, his proton missile making contact. 

“Now it’s just you two.” 

“Not quite,” a voice from behind shouted as Skull Satamon emerged from the smoke, flames surrounding him. “You have to kill me first,” he stood, already beaten, but willing to fight for his masters. 

“Lay down, you’ve already been beaten.” Atlas announced, but as he began to turn his head, he saw a flash past him it was Myotismon, who had plunged his hand through Skull Satamon. 

“You have served your purpose. Now, become one with me.” Skull Satamon began to turn into data, and entered into Myotismon’s mouth. 

And just like that, a fire lit in Atlas. 

“He was your teammate, he worked for you, and you just killed him, just like that?” Imperialdramon turned and jumped at Myotismon, swinging a punch that turned the air itself. Myotismon caught the punch, though not without some effort. He was distracted just enough to not notice the boy jump from the digimon’s back, throwing a punch of his own. Of course, this punch didn’t effect Myotismon at all, but it helped Atlas release some of his anger. 

And he began to think back to Naota, Toshiro, and the day it all fell apart. 

———


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

“We can beat anything if we all stay together!” Jude proclaimed as his partners digivovled into their mega level, WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon. Beside him, stood Atlas, with his partners already at their mega level, BanchoStingmon, and Magnamon. The six of them stood against Barbamon, a wizard Digimon that had collected date throughout the digital world, and now how the power to defeat even the Royal Knights, and destroy their king, Drasil. Behind them stood their friends, Kenta, Akiko, Toshiro, and Naota, whose power all came together to help Veemon, Wormmon, Agumon, and Gabumon digivolve to mega. This was their last chance to stop Barbamon, and together they could. 

WarGreymon readied his Terra Force, a large ball of pure energy, and as he did, Magnamon wrapped it in Plasma Spheres, that circled the ball, almost like planets around a sun. WarGreymon threw the energy ball at Barbamon, but he caught it and pushed it back, holding it from crashing down on him. MetalGarurumon fired his missiles toward him while he was destructed, which caused him to lose focus and have the attack fall on him. 

He lay on the ground, weakened but not defeated. He raised up, leaning on his staff. 

“You cannot defeat me like this! I won’t let you!” He stuck his staff into the air, and a ball of negative energy began to form at the end. “This is my world, now! You won’t take what I’ve rightfully acquired! Now die!” He pulled his staff back, and went to thrust it forward and launch the attack but stopped. He coughed up blood and looked down, as BanchoStingmon had stabbed him with his stingers, Lansing the finishing blow. 

“The Digital World is not yours to own. It’s for all Digimon.” 

They had defeated the evil and saved the Digital World. It couldn’t have happened without them all. But doubt always finds its way into the weakest hearts. 

Toshiro watched from the background as his closest friends defeated an evil that threatened the digital world, and instead of joy, he felt frustration. His partners, Tentomon and Betamon sat beside him, watching the fight take place, rooting for their friends, and he felt angry. Why couldn’t he have that power?

Atlas and Jude ran back to the group, cheering about the win. Toshiro knee he had to fake a smile and joy, and it made him sick. Why was he so upset? They did it together, right? 

——— 

After the battle the Digital World began to rebuild. With King Drasil destroyed, and most of the Digital World in shambles, The Royal Knights decided that in replacement of their king, they would become protectors of the World. The Group nominated two of their own, Gallantmon and Leopardmon to be the leaders, and the rest would follow suit. The Digimon took well to this idea, they seemed fairly trustworthy, and their intention seemed just. They broke down into sectors, and protected the world. 

While all of this was happening, Toshiro and the rest of the gang spent their time jumping back and forth between worlds, doing what they could to help rebuild and protect the Digital World. For the most part, Toshiro’s feelings from that day had vanished, but in the back of his mind, they never left completely. 

While repairing primary village, the home of baby in-training Digimon, Toshiro strayed away from the group, not even taking his partners with him. He wondered around, watching the world around him, and thoughts began coming to his head. Why wasn’t he the strongest? What was different between the three of them, himself, Atlas and Jude? We’re they all not on equal grounds? 

“You look troubled, human.” The voice caught him off guard, and he jerked his body around. In front of him was a small Digimon, grey body with long ears. “Do you need to talk?” 

“Who are you, and why would you be worried about me?” He kept his guard up. He wasn’t afraid of this Digimon, but every since that day, he was on edge. 

“I’m Pagumon, and I just thought you looked like you could talk. You’ve done so much for us, I thought I could try to help you.” He offer seemed sincere enough, so Toshiro sighed and sat down on a nearby rock. And he began to talk. About everything that had happened, about his feelings of frustration and jealousy. 

“I don’t think your wrong for feeling that way. I’m sure you’ve got great things planned for you.” 

——— 

Two years had past since Barbamon had been defeated. The Digital World was back to normal, and the Royal Knights kept large conflicts from occurring. The digidestined still spent time there, but mainly just to see their friends. Every now and then, Toshiro would break from the group and go meet up with Pagumon. Tentomon and Betamon didn’t care much for the Pagumon, they thought he was a bit deceiving, but Toshiro had grown attached to it, saying it was like another partner to him. It also helped that it didn’t have any attachments to the others, he didn’t feel bad for talking about his friends. 

“So what’s your plans, Pagumon?” Toshiro looked down as the little Digimon sat on his lap. 

“Have you ever heard of Jogress?” It looked up at Toshiro, a gleam in its eyes. Toshiro shook his head, never heard of such a thing. “Jogress is a special type of evolution. It takes two or more Digimon to Jogress evolve. I want to be a lucky Digimon that reaches that level.” 

“I hope I can help you reach that goal, Pagumon,” Toshiro smiled. Pagumon smiled back, a darkness in its eyes, 

“I hope so, too, Toshiro.”

——— 

Around the same time, the Digital World began to face its next crisis. Belphemon, a Digimon who stayed in slumber, had awoken and began destroying everything in its path. The Royal Knights all came together to fight it, but it was too much for them alone. They called for the help of the Digidestined, as well as other powerful Digimon to finish it off, and put it back to sleep. It was a short lived crisis, everyone coming together to defeat the evil once again. In this battle, both Atlas and Jude, when they needed help the most, awakened Jogress Evolution. Once they did, they were able to put Belphemon back to sleep. And once again, Toshiro felt his pride building up, jealous of his friends’ power. 

The conflict died down quickly, and it seemed that everything would return to normal, but an uneasy feeling could be felt everywhere. Some Digimon didn’t think the Royal Knights were able to do their jobs as protectors, seeing they needed help the first sign of trouble. Other factions rose up to claim the spot as protectors of the digital world, others as rulers. Quickly, the world was back in chaos, battles happening everywhere. 

The digidestined did their part to stop the fighting, but it was beyond them to contain. As these battles took place, the conflicts were strong enough to cause rips in space, opening portals to the human world. Other digidestined from around the human world helped fight off any Digimon that crossed over, as the other group couldn’t afford to leave the digital world. 

“This is getting exhausting,” Akiko sighed, sitting hunched over in her seat. They all sat in a small room, trying to check a break from all the conflict. “Tsukaimon can’t take much more of this.”

“We’re going to meet with Gallantmon,” Atlas stood up, standing in front of his closest friends, as a leader. “He’ll help us come up with a way to end this.” 

“Then we should split up,” Jude spoke up next, “you should take Akiko and Naota to go see him, the rest of us will do what we can to keep the conflict down.” Kenta walked over to Jude and slapped him on the shoulder. 

“Hell yeah, you can count on us!” He winked at Atlas and threw him a ‘thumbs up’. 

“Me and Elecmon are more the passive type, anyway,” Naota stood up, getting behind Atlas. “But we‘ll fight too, if we have to.” He glanced over at Toshiro, who was looking at the ground. Finally, he raised his head. 

“I guess leave the fighting to the strong ones, then.” The words came out cruel, and everyone was thrown off by them. It wasn’t like Toshiro to talk like that. 

“Hey, there’s none of us here that ate weak!” Atlas grabbed Toshiro’s collar, and pulled him up out of his chair. “We’ve all fought hard together, why would you say that?” Jude walked over and broke the two up. 

“I’m sure it’s just the exhaustion talking, he didn’t mean anything by it.” 

“Yeah, sorry. I don’t know what came over me.” He looked back down at the floor, and walked out of the room. After that, the two groups split up, heading out to fulfill their duties. But as Kenta and Jude left to go to the battlefields, Toshiro headed to primary village, to find Pagumon. Once they reached primary village, Tentomon and Betamon stopped. 

“We get that you care about this Pagumon,” Tentomon began, “but your abandoning everyone else to save it.” 

“What about our friends?” Betamon looked into his tamer’s eyes and saw emptiness. 

“I’ll be right back, and we’ll be able to save everyone.” 

He took off to find Pagumon, and when he finally did, he was relieved. 

“Pagumon, I need the secret to Jogress! I need to surpass everyone and save the world!” Pagumon looked at him, and smiled. 

“I have an idea, but I’ll need your help. Don’t worry, you’ll be the strongest tamer. With the strongest Digimon.” 

———

The meeting with Gallantmon didn’t go as planned, as he wouldn’t stand down to anyone. They learned that even the Royal Knights had split up, and were fighting each other as well. It seemed as though all factions were planning on having a final clash, to see who was the strongest. All armies were already on route, and with that, he left as well. Atlas called everyone to meet up, to figure out what they were going to do. 

“A battle of that caliber will destroy the border between the worlds, there’s no telling what could happen if this goes on.” Jude looked around, then back at Atlas. “What do we do?” 

“We have to go stop them. We have to find a different way to end this, and everyone will be together, so it’ll work. If not, we fight to keep them from fighting.” Kenta ribbed the back of his head, and looked at Atlas with a confused look. 

“We’re suppose to stop the fighting, not join it.” He laughed a little, “but I’m with him, lets go see what kind of trouble we can get into.” And the group headed out, Toshiro stuck to the back of the group. In his backpack, Pagumon waited, today was the day it had waited for. Once the party had gotten about half way, it was fine for its plan to unravel. 

“Here’s the plan, Toshiro,” Pagumon has told him before the meeting with the rest of them , “I have some things for you, that will make you the strongest around.” Toshiro knew now was the time to start. First were two pellets, for his partner Digimon. He was told they would gain incredible strength from them, he gave them to them, and smiled as they ate them. Suddenly, they digivolved into their mega forms, HurculesKabuterimon, and MetalSedramon. The two of them went berserk, attacking everything in sight. The sudden attack confused everyone, but they quickly began to digivolve to try and restrain their friends. 

In the chaos, a virus was uploaded into Akiko’s partner, Kuramon, causing it to multiply. Everything gre more confusing, as Kuramon flooded the area, all rushing to one point. And then they all fused together, creating a giant Digimon, dark energy circled it. It began thrashing around, defeating all the mega Digimon around it. 

“Atlas, I’m going to Jogress!” Jude yelled back as he held his digivice in the air and fused his partners, and Omnimon took shape. Atlas followed suit, and Imperialdramon appeared beside Omnimon. The Digimon jerked its head around, and launched itself at Imperialdramon. Omnimon jumped in front, blasting a full assault of Supreme Cannon blast at it, but they did nothing to slow it down. Imperialdramon joined the assault, blasting a Proton Laser into it, but it darted to the side and continued forward. 

As it lunged toward Imperialdramon, it’s body became an ooze, and wrapped around it. It formed a shape that resembled a digi egg, but a malevolent purple hue. It began to crack open, a dark haze leaking out. 

And then it emerged. 

It was a Digimon that looked similar to Omnimon, but grey instead of white. On its right arm was what appeared to be Imperialdramon Dragon Mode’s head, and the left was the other digimon’s. Over its shoulders hung a red worn cape, and within its helmet, one red eye peered out. Pure darkness emitted from this life form, even enough to shock Pagumon, who created the virus. 

Atlas watched in horror as this Digimon landed on the ground, and instantly charged at Omnimon, using Its Imperialdramon horn as a blade, with crushing weight. Omnimon tried to match it with it’s own Transcendent Sword, but it crumbled under the weight of the blow. It slashed down Omnimon, knocking it to the ground, and tentacles came from its other arm, wrapping around it. Omnimon was lifted into the air, and blasted by a Proton Laser. It fell to the ground, and reverted back to Agumon and Gabumon. Jude rushes to grab them, and get them out of the way. As he did, the Digimon swung its blade at him, but barely missed. 

Naota looked over at BanchoLeomon, who had finally taken down MetalSeadramon, and they both rushed over to the other battle, leaving HerculesKabuterimon to Kenta and his mega, TridentOlmmon, where the two of them boomer he into one being. BanchoLeomon jumped up, kicking down at the Digimon, but having no effect on it. He bounced back, putting space between Naota and this entity. 

“Imperialdramon, snap out of it.” He howled at his friends, trying to make sense of the situation. Everything became so hectic all at once. Then it hit him, he turned to Toshiro. “What have you done, boy?” Everyone turned to face Toshiro, as Pagumon hopped out of his back, onto his shoulder. 

“Toshiro?” Atlas looked over at him, still in shock of what had happened to his partners, “did you do this?” 

“It should have been me!” He shouted, a dark cloud began to circle him. “We should have been the strongest! But now I will be.” Pagumon jumped out of Toshiro’s arms and began to glow, warp digivolving into Darkdramon, a Dragon mega level. 

“This is the moment we’ve been waiting for!” Darkdramon dove at BanchoLeomon, stabbing through him with it’s bare hand, on the other side holding his digicore. It ripped its arm out of BanchoLeomon, and jabbed his digicore into its chest, and their data began to join. A new being stood where the two once were, an arm for each Digimon. Naota ran up to it, wrapping his arms around BanchoLeomon’s face. 

“Leomon, answer me!” Tears fell from his cheek as he looked up into the Digimon’s eye looking down at him. 

“Naota,” it said, “BanchoLeomon is gone.” 

Naota felt a warmth in his stomach, as the Leomon arm lifted slightly and a metallic noise came from from it. He looked around to see all his friends, Even Toshiro in shock about whatever had happened. He looked down and saw it. A blade piercing through his stomach, his own blood pouring all over his hands. He looked up at BanchoLeomon and then farther at the one who it had become. With a quick whoosh the blade entered BanchoLeomon’s mouth, and Naota fell to the ground. The new Digimon walked over towards what Imperialdramon has become, and tossed something at it. A light surrounded it, and when it cleared, the three rookie level Digimon lay on the round. Atlas and Akiko rushes to their partners, making sure they were ok, and the newest threat walked over to Toshiro’s partners, and returned them to rookie level as well. But they were different, as if their personalities had been wiped, and they were mindless now. The four of them turned and walked away, a dark fog wrapping around them, as they disappeared. 

The remaining four rushed to Naota’s side, but it was already too late for him. This was the first time the team felt defeat, and it was at the hands of their own. 

——— 

While all of this took place, the largest battle the Digital world had ever seen raged on. With every blow, rifts tore between worlds, causing major issues in the human world. The Digimon, however, were not concerned about anything but winning. Leopardmon and Gallantmon fought each other with ferocity that even by-standing Digimon we’re destroyed in each attack. At the end of the battle, only a handful of mega level Digimon still stood. Leopardmon barely hung on, using his rapier as support to stand, Gallantmon standing above him. Even though all appeared to be lost, it grinned and looked up. The sky turned dark and the ground covered in a dark shadow. In that moment, Examon, one of the Royal Knights, who was the strongest but mindless as well, descended. 

Gallantmon jumped back as Examon’s javelin stabbed at the ground, disintegrating the entire area around it. Examon’s power was no joke. King Drasil had locked it away in the past, and giving instruction that it was a last resort to save the Digital world to use it. That Leopardmon would directly ignore their lord and break the seal was unforgivable. 

“To try and harness all this power yourself, you truly are a fool.” Gallantmon jumped into the air, to match level with Examon. “I’ve never fought at this next level, I’m sorry Examon, Lord Drasil.” He dropped his javelin and shield, as light began to envelop him. When it cleared, Gallantmon emerged, sporting new armor, and wings made of light. He charged at Examon, and the two of them clashed. 

The impact destroyed the barrier between worlds, and everything began to shake. Digital shifts began to open, and the two worlds began to merge. The digidestined that remained were still coming to terms with the events that had happened when everything around them began to crumble. As the world fell apart, Naota’s body became separated, continually moving farther apart from the rest of them. Atlas ran to him, trying to grab on before everything was gone. Before he could reach him, a flash blinded him. 

——— 

A flash of light blinded Atlas for a second, before he realized he was in Imperialdramon’s hand. In front of him was Piedmon, it’s sword stuck in the ground where Atlas just was. 

“Thanks for the save, guys” he looked up at his partners, who didn’t stop glaring at the enemy. Jude and Omnimon landed next to them. The two looked at each other, then Atlas turned away. 

“Can’t just act like an idiot because you’ve been out of the game so long.” Jude smirked. 

“Who’s says we’ve been out of the game?” Atlas jumped up on Imperialdramon’s shoulder pad, holding on to his crown. “Just don’t slow us down, Jude!” They leapt back at the enemy, changing their focus to Myotismon. He threw a punch, but it didn’t connect. Myotismon appeared on his gauntlet, moving faster than their eyes could keep up with. Myotismon jumped into the air, and Imperialdramon was able to see it, avoiding a kick to the face. The two began trading blows, but Imperialdramon began to notice the strain trying to target such a small foe. 

“Atlas, we need to degenerate!” Atlas nodded and held his digivice up. A bright light surrounded Imperialdramon, and from that light came BanchoStingmon and Magnamon. They rushed their enemy, and easily had the upper hand now that they could match speed. Atlas looked over, not wanting to break his focus, but just to check on the other battle. Omnimon seemed to be struggling against Peidmon, which shouldn’t be the case. He was way stronger than Imperialdramon, realistically they shouldn’t have had to help him clear the entire battlefield, as much as he hated to admit it. It seemed Jude was right, Omnimon was wearing down. They couldn’t rely of his power anymore. Maybe they did need him to stay. 

But right now, they needed help, so his team needed to finish Myotismon off. The two Digimon weaved in between each other, adding confusion into the mix. They had worked together so long, plus the fact that they were linked through Jogress, that formulating strategy was second nature, as well as silent. Magnamon sprung up, using his energy to illuminate his golden armor, creating a flash bomb effect. As he did this, BanchoStingmon used the opening to jab his stinger into Myotismon. It had caught on to the plan, jerking away at last moment, keeping it from being a mortal wound. Myotismon put some distance between the two of them, holding his side in pain. As he struggled to breath, Piedmon appeared behind him. 

“I better save you,” he laughed, “I guess we can show them Our Jogress!” Piedmon places his hand on Myotismon’s back, and a dark mist began to surround them. From within the mist, a black hand reached out, grabbing for BanchoStingmon. He jumped back, and readied for attack, as his allies joined him. From the hand came the body of this newly formed Digimon. In size it didn’t change much, but his evil presence weighed heavy on the area. Atlas looked up and saw it. It looked like what he would consider a pirate. It wore a golden mask, with a creepy smile engraved in it. It’s arms hung down low, and a second set of arms protruded from it back. 

It stood there for a few minutes, merely stretching out. After a few minutes, it disappeared. 

“Awful slow bunch, aren’t you?” The voice came from behind the Digimon, but in front of Atlas and Jude. They all turned to see the Digimon standing between them and their tamers. “You probably won’t live much longer, but the name’s Boltboutamon.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can see some of the characters from this story on my Twitter, where I attempt to draw them. https://twitter.com/worldofglassvii/status/1254420473032724481?s=21


	4. Chapter 4

“Boltboutamon?” The name rolled off of Atlas’s tongue as the Digimon stood a few meters away. Magnamon, BanchoStingmon, and Omnimon were on its other side, turning to face it. Atlas had stood face to face with many Digimon, but this one gave off a terribly dark vibe, making him a bit more cautious than usual. It stood there, it’s eyes glaring through the mask, it’s red eyes peering through the two tamers. 

From behind, Magnamon and BanchoStingmon jumped it, both swinging powerful punches at it. Without even turning around, the two spare hands it had protruding from it back caught the blows, and threw them back, without any effort whatsoever. What level was this Digimon? Magnamon and BanchoStingmon were both mega level, so even if it was and Ultra, they should still be able to land a hit. Or are they wearing down, too? Hopefully, they were just out of shape, it’s been awhile since a real fight. Atlas looked over at Jude, who hadn’t flinched a bit. He stood tall, staring Boltboutamon down, and he could tell that he had seen a lot in the last few years. 

Since when was he a coward? He was the one everyone turned to back in the day. Had he changed so much that one Digimon scared him? He had faced many Digimon by himself, even Barbamon at one point. In fact, the first Digimon that made him feel fear was Barbamon, their first encounter. It had felt much like this. It hit him quickly after this, as he pulled out his digivice. Jude looked at him confused, as he checked his field guide and gasped looking up at Boltboutamon. 

“You, Myotismon. You were Barbamon.” They alley looked at Boltboutamon as it began to cackle. It’s head snapped back, howling into the air as everyone finally caught on. Atlas gritted his teeth. “We destroyed you, completely. BanchoStingmon ripped out your digicore! How are you alive?” It’s head snapped back down, eyes darted over at BanchoStingmon. 

“We are more than just a Digicore. Though it would be nice to have it back. You were the one that took it from me, so I’ll be going after you first.” It’s body vanished and appeared again, with it’s knee in BanchoStingmon’s gut. It pulled its leg away enough to launch a kick, knocking him back into a wooded area. It planted its foot and drew its swords. “Palazzi Valzer.” The swords began to glow, and multiplied, floating around it. “Release!” As it screamed, the blades darted into the forest, everything they touched was cut in half. Trees toppled, boulders exploded, the forest was decimated in seconds. 

And there was no sign of BanchoStingmon. 

Boltboutamon turned to face Magnamon and Omnimon once again. It raised it hands up, and the two original swords came back to it. Magnamon didn’t wait to be provoked, he launched himself at it, slashing his claws toward it. While in a melee of attacks, he released a few Plasma Shots, small balls of plasma that homes in on an enemy and explode on contact. It seemed to catch Boltboutamon off guard, as it darted back after the first explosion, giving Magnamon the chance to close in, and land a few good, and needed, blows. He launched a few more Plasma Shots, knowing they wouldn’t hit, but cause a distraction. He knew what was coming. 

The dust covered the area making it hard to see. The ground began to crack open, and a stinger came flying from the ground, hitting Boltboutamon directly in the face, cracking part of its mask. It tried to retreat backwards, but as it moved, more stingers attacked from underground. It stopped and prepared to attack, but before it could, BanchoStingmon leapt up out of the ground, stinger connecting with it’s shoulder. It’s arm fell limp as BanchoStingmon landed. 

“I’ve ripped your core out once, I don’t care to do it again” Atlas had forgotten how cold Wormmon became when he digivolved to mega level. He was like a completely different Digimon, much like a hit man. At times he was glad he wasn’t their enemy, being as ruthless as he was. His two partners had Boltboutamon cornered, and being on the offensive, it actually seemed like they had the upper hand. It seemed to be completely focused on them, so it was no surprise when it was caught off guard by a blast from the outside. 

“Don’t forget about us, they’re not your only opponent!” Omnimon charged in against his confused enemy, slashing down with his Transcendent Sword down on top of it. It’s two swords tried to catch the blow, barely able to stop it. It’s feet dig into the dirt, holding back as much as it could. Magnamon and BanchoStingmon took the opportunity to go in for the kill, but it’s spare arms tried to hold them back. They were in a deadlock, not one of them budging. From the sidelines, a trident flew in, piercing Boltboutamon through the side, clearing its entire body. 

“Couldn’t save any of the fun for us, could you?” Atlas and Jude turned to see TridentOlmmon, a biomerged mega level of Kenta and his partner Olmmon. They jumped towards them, ripping their trident from the foe, and it fell to the ground, grabbing its side. Almost instantly, the Jogress fell apart, and Piedmon and Myotismon were separate entities again. 

“It seems you brats haven’t lost a step all these years,” Myotismon grimaced, “If I still had the dark digicore, we wouldn’t have lost.” They all looked confused. 

“Dark digicore?” Atlas looked back at Myotismon as the words left his mouth. In that second, Piedmon jumped up, a knife in its hand, going straight for Atlas. Before it reached him, Magnamon had grabbed it and BanchoStingmon ran it through. It instantly began to dissipated, it’s data disappeared into the air. 

“Omnimon, we’re taking Myotismon back alive.” Jude ordered as Omnimon reached over, grabbing Myotismon with his MetalGarurumon arm. Atlas looked over at Jude, again angered at his decision. 

“This isn’t an ordinary Digimon, Jude! This is Barbamon! The one that took over the Digital World! I don’t know what this Dark digicore is, but if it was to get it again, would we be able to stop it?” 

“This isn’t a matter for someone who is just going to walk away.” Jude turned his back to Atlas. “We’re not kids anymore, we’re soldiers. We have to fix our mistakes. This is war, and it has intel we can use.” 

“We’re the good guys! We can’t win like that!” Atlas ran over to Jude, but was quickly knocked down by a punch. 

“Either stay or leave. I have an entire base to relocate.”

——— 

Akiko waited in the office they had all met in earlier. She glanced out the door, where she could mainly see was Wendigomon’s who was Taukakmon’s champion level, legs. She imagined that he was hunkered down in the hall, being as tall as he was. She held Kuramon’s egg close to her, and could feel her move around the egg. Not much longer until she’d be back with them. She missed Kuramon, even though she couldn’t talk and only made noises, she would ride on Akiko’s head, and always seemed so cheerful. Akiko was never one for showing too much emotion, was always told it was weak to show emotion, so she tried her best not to. But Kuramon and Tsukaimon made her genuinely happy, and she missed that. 

Wendigomon dunked under the doorframe, and raised up to quickly, knocking his head on the ceiling. He stumbled around, trying to place the ceiling panel back in place, and try his best to keep it from happening again. She snickered a bit, Wendigomon was extremely clumsy, even in wide open spaces. It was so strange the differences between Wendigomon and Tsukaimon, the same being but different quirks and traits. Digimon were strange beings. 

“I think the fighting’s over,” he said, still holding the ceiling panel above his head. “I can smell everyone heading back this way, Kenta’s with them,” he sniffed some more, “and someone else. Digimon. Like me.” He meant a dark attribute Digimon when he said like me. 

“If they’re coming back, you’re probably good to go ahead and degenerate, Wendigomon.” He looked at her, and shook his head. 

“Not until you’re safe.” He sat down in the doorway, acting as though hunching down was bothering his back. About the time he sat down, a digimon toting a large sword began to walk by, dragging another digimon behind it. Along with it, came Jude, with his partners. As they passed the door, he stopped, and gave her a soft but drained smile. 

“We’ve won.” He said and started to turn. 

“Where’s Atlas? Who is that digimon?” She began to spout, heading towards the door. Jude turn to the digimon walking by and nodded, as it began to drag the body even further into the compound. 

“That is Tactimon. It’s a strategist. It’s also good at getting information. The other digimon was Myotismon, the one who attacked the base. Atlas is.” He paused for a minute. “Well, he’s probably gone by now.” He stopped again and looked down at his feet. Akiko could see his hands tremble a bit. “Are you sure this is what you want?” He never looked up, but she could tell he was in pain. 

“I…” she paused and looked over and Wendigomon, “We can’t just sit around and do nothing.” 

“I wish everyone felt the same.” He raised his head and walked on down the hall, never making eye contact with her. She hasn’t seen Jude in a few years, but it seemed as though the old stubborn Jude that cut jokes and picked on Atlas was gone. He had been replaced by a general. A tired, defeated general. Of course, after everything that had happened, none of them were the same. Atlas wasn’t a cheerful know-it-all, and there was no telling about Toshiro. They hadn’t seen him since that day. That only left…

“Akiko!” She heard her name echo through the halls, as a perky Kenta slid past the doorway, backed up, and ran in for a hug. The old Akiko would have slapped him, but she returned the offer. She really needed this. It seemed like he was the only one who hadn’t changed. Kenta was always a wild soul, very sporadic in nature. He kept everyone on their toes with his antics, but it kept the mood light. He was odd, to say the least. His outfit reeked of punk, a cut off plaid over shirt, with a mid sleeve black shirt underneath. He wore a red headband, and a red armband, which they all wore. 

Slowly but surely, behind him followed Olmmon. Olmmon was a lot like Kenta, other than the fact that he was low energy. He was a clueless digimon, the two of them fit together so well. Kenta turned and faced Olmmon, “Dude, your late! We left at the same time to get here!” Olmmon scratched his head and sighed, and Akiko couldn’t help but laugh at the two of them. Kenta turned back around, rubbing the back of his head and smiling. “You haven’t changed a bit, Akiko.” She knew that wasn’t true. 

“You goofballs are the ones who haven’t changed.” They made their way back to the chairs sitting in the room, and rested a bit. 

“Atlas is on his way, but he’s moving slower than Olmmon.” He glanced over at his partner, who sat on the floor with his legs crossed. Tsukaimon flew around his head, tapping on his reptilian fin protruding from his head like a mow hawk. “He’s got something going on, but I’m sure he’ll be back soon.” He looked at the egg on her back. “Kuramon still hasn’t hatched yet?” She guessed that she let a look of worry cover her face because he sighed and then said, “She’ll be back soon. I promise.” She knew he had no way of knowing that, but she would take any positivity right now. 

“Kenta,” she sighed, “how is Jude? I mean, really? I’ve been with Atlas for two years now, and he’s changed completely. Jude seems like he’s past his breaking point.” He sighed and crossed his arms. 

“Jude is doing his best. But he won’t stop. He believes we caused all of this.” He stopped again, shook his head, and let out another sigh. “I don’t think he wants to fix it, though.” She jerked her head up to look at him, as he scratched the back of his head. 

“Meaning?”

“I think he just wants to stop the fighting.” He stood up and walked over to the window. “Look around, Akiko. The world is healthier than it’s ever been. There is no more starvation, the atmosphere has almost fully repaired. The World Jogress,” he smiled at her, “I coined that nick name , by the way, has saved us from ourselves. If we can live peacefully with digimon, we can save the world in a different way, and get to stay with our partners.” She broke eye contact with him, and looked at the ground, gripping at her pants. 

“But look at the Digital World. It stayed in turmoil the entire time we were there. There was always another fight, always another darkness to defeat. What’s to say it won’t happen here?” 

“We have the same darkness in our world, too.” He walked over and placed his hand on her shoulder. “We’ll figure it out.” He moved his hand and walked over to the door. “ I’ve got some things to take care of, we’ll catch up some more later, ok?” He winked and saluted as he ran off. Olmmon slowly stood up, waved at her, and walked out the door. She looked back at the desk and noticed the flash drive that Jude had handed her. She meant to ask Kenta about it, but had forgotten it. She reached over and grabbed it, and stoved it in her pocket. Wouldn’t do her any good right now, Kuramon was still asleep. 

——— 

Atlas kicked the front door to the base open. Veemon and Wormmon followed behind, each acting as though they had an embarrassing toddler throwing a fit. He had his hands deep in his jacket pockets, and I rather sulking stance. He had spent some time after getting knocked down to think about everything. He walked past the doorway of the room Akiko was in, didn’t stop one second, though. He heard his partners give a quick, ‘hey’ as they passed, but they wanted to keep up with him as much as possible. He jerk to a halt when he began to hear Jude talking, and instantly kicked the door open to the room he was in. 

“Listen here, you little shit!” He shouted as he grabbed Jude by the collar, not paying attention to anything going on around him. Jude returned the grab and the two locked into each other, ready to fight. Suddenly, a large sheathed sword split the two up, and pushed back on Atlas. It was Tactimon, glaring at him like a threat. He could see where it was coming from, he did just kick the door down and attacked their general. But he didn’t care. 

“Outside, now.” He turned and headed towards the exit, and surprisingly, Jude followed. Once they made it outside, Atlas swung on Jude, smacking his fist against his face. The two began to brawl, going back and forth with the blows. Wormmon began to step in but Veemon stopped him, knowing it was for the best. 

The two kept beating each other until they were both out of breath. Blood poured from their noses, they were bruised all over, and neither one could stand up straight. Jude went to swing another punch, but fell on his face. At the same time Atlas went to his knees. They tried to catch their breath when they made eye contact. 

“You stupid moron,” Atlas barely got out, “You can’t do this all alone.” Jude’s head jerked up, looked at his beaten best friend. “You never were any good at this stuff.” Atlas fell over after that. As he laid on the ground, he noticed they were surrounded by everyone from the base, even Akiko and Kenta. 

“We’re a team, maybe we should start acting it.”

Jude laughed. 

“You started it.”


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

“You promise you won’t tell?” Naota looked over at Kenta, who leaned against the wall of a cave they were in, getting out of the rain. They weren’t in the digital world, the two of them would spend most days together while in the human world. 

“You can trust me with anything, man.” Kenta huffed as he looked outside at the rain. He wasn’t ignoring Naota or trying to get out of the conversation, rain just calmed him down. He figured it was because of Olmmon, being a digimon salamander, that made him feel that way. He looked back at Naota, who was balling up the end of the red scarf he always wore. “I’m not going to tell anyone if you don’t want them to know.” 

“I just need advice, really,” he continued to look down. He was always a shy type, never being too vocal and wanting to be led instead of leading. “I think I care for someone, very deeply. What do I do?” Kenta looked shocked and jumped back. 

“I don’t know, man! I’m no good at these things!” Naota looked up at him and then back down. Kenta felt bad for over reacting. “I would just say, tell them. Never know what could happen tomorrow.” That was the best he could come up with. He wasn’t lying when he said he was no good at this stuff. Nothing clicked right with him when it came to relationships and all that. 

“And what if they don’t feel the same?” 

“Man, you’re awesome. Don’t see why the wouldn’t.”

——— 

Kenta jerked up in his bed, rubbing his forehead with his palm. He had that dream every now and then. It was the day before Naota… 

He jumped out of bed and walked over to the window. He was able to look out onto the field where the battle took place just yesterday. The first battle they had fought since moving to this base. And now looking to have to find another. He turned around and looked at Olmmon. He was a weird digimon, whose preference for a bed was a small pool with cold water in it, and a rock to lay down on. A strange little creature, but to each their own. He figured he probably should try to lay back down, tomorrow was going to be a big day. 

——— 

Kenta walked down the halls of the base, which had always reminded him of a school building. He didn’t know the origin of the building, when they found it it didn’t have any marking or anything in it. It was like a completely new building, which he found odd. 

He knew that Jude would be calling a meeting this morning, and Atlas would be joining the upper ranks, or even made a general in this war. But that was above Kenta’s head. He didn’t want the live of leader, and was always more of a supporter, anyway. He avoided all the meetings and such. He jumped in when needed, but his main focus was protecting the people of the base. 

As he walked, he passed Akiko’s room. She was up, and Tsukaimon sat on her lap, as she pet him. He walked over and gave the door a knock, and she looked up and nodded him in. 

“Sleep well?” He asked her as he leaned against the door frame. 

“Me and Atlas were on the road for two years, this is the first time I’ve slept in a bed in that long.” She stretched out and let out a large yawn, which was all out of character for her. “I’ve never slept better.”

“Well, I’m glad one of us did.” He looked down as memories of the dream he had came rushing back. He must had shown it on his face, because Akiko looked worried about him. “Want to go for breakfast?”

The two sat in a large cafeteria, where a group of cooks tried to keep food made for everyone at the base. With the digital waves effecting the earth, it was easy to keep food growing, so they never ran out. Kenta poked at a large piece of ham on his plate, every now and then sipping on a bottle of water. He needed to snap back to normal, before he worried Akiko anymore. 

“So, you and Atlas.” He looked up and her and grinned. 

“No,” she spurted out, her face turned red. “He just wanted to make sure I was save when I went to check on my family.” 

“Well yeah, I get that. But that’s a long time to be alone.” He smiled and raised his eye brows again. “I don’t blame you, though. Atlas is a real pain in the ass.” He leaned back and put his hands on his head. 

“Well, what about you? Did you find you a lady in the last two year? You never would answer my calls, she must be the jealous type.” She grinned back at him while taking a bite from the food she was eating. 

“No no, no lady for me. Got too much work to do to have someone telling me more things to do.” They both laughed and looked over at their partners. “We’ve got too much work to do to worry about romance, anyway.” She looked back at him and noticed the sadness in his eyes. 

“So, what’s up with you today? You’re not your usual wild soul.” He looked up and smiled, he began to stand and say something about the meeting when her foot slammed down on his. “Nu uh, you’re not getting away until you tell me.” This is the Akiko he remembered. Very caring, but very dark in the way she showed it. 

“It was just a dream, I’ll be alright.”

“It must have been some dream to throw you out of wack.” He stopped and looked at her, and let out a sigh. Maybe it was just best to talk to someone about it. 

“There was a day, before everything happened, that it was raining. Me and Naota were out hiking when it began to rain, so we took shelter in a cave. He asked me if I would keep a secret for him and told me he cared about someone.” He paused for a minute. “It all sounds really silly out loud, I don’t know why I keep dreaming about it.” She reaches out her hand and placed it on his. 

“It’s not silly to miss your friend, Kenta. We all miss him.” He looked up at her as she smiled a somber smile, and they both just sat there for a few moments. Suddenly, her digivice began to ring. When she answered, he could hear Atlas on the other end, asking for them. And with that, they stood up and headed off. 

——— 

As they entered the conference room, Kenta was already surprised by Atlas. He stood between Jude and Tactimon, looking over all the information they had. It was clear that he was in control of the conversation, even though Kenta couldn’t actually hear it. Just the day before he wanted to run off, and now, he was pretty much leading everyone again. He began to smile at the fact, but as soon as he did, he could tell it wasn’t the time for it. 

“Akiko.” He paused and looked up at her, as serious as Kenta had ever seen him. “When was the last time you spoke to Aison?” She looked shocked and glared around the room. 

“It’s been awhile, what does brother have to do with this?” Jude slid a stapled stack of papers toward the two of them. 

“We believe he is working with Toshiro, Chaosmon, and is directly under Examon.” She glanced down at the papers, and sat down in the chair beside her. “We don’t know exacts, but it’s possible.” He paused, but then continued, “he could have used you to lead him to us.” She looked up, but didn’t show a sign of shock. “We believe you were bugged, or that you and Atlas were followed to us.” 

“I haven’t spoke to Aison in over a year. Since me and Atlas went to find my parents. He acted strange, but he’s never been close to anyone, so it was strange for him to be with them, anyway. He didn’t give me anything, though. So he must have followed us.” 

“We need to figure it out,” Atlas looked her in the eye. “Or our time here will be short lived.” Kenta moves over to her side, and nodded at Atlas. 

“Ya know, I’m just as smart as Toshiro and Aison. If you guys were bugged, I could find it.”

“If you have time time, please go over Akiko’s possessions and make sure nothings tampered with. We will check and make sure there’s nothing we missed.” Atlas, Veemon, and Wormmon headed out the door. “I don’t think we caused this, Akiko.” He turned around. “And I don’t know your brother’s deal either, but I won’t let it happen again.” Kenta looked at the figure in the doorway, and it was like looking back in time. 

“I won’t let you down, boss.” 

As he left, Jude stepped over to their side. Kenta had been with Jude since all this had began, and he could see the weight lifted off his shoulders. He was actually happy, even in this trying time.   
“Feels like we’re ready to save the world again, eh?” He elbowed Jude’s side. 

“Well, at least everyone’s beginning to act normal again.” Jude smiled up and ran out the door. 

“I think we have some work to do, Akiko.” 

——— 

Aison was a strange man, Toshiro knew that much. Chaosmon wanted to keep Examon under wraps, so including the only human it trusted in the loop was the only way to keep an eye on it. But Toshiro also knew that Aison was the only person he knew that rivaled his own intelligence. Well, him and Kenta. 

The two walked side by side until they reached a large sliding metal door. It slid to the side, opening up an enormous lab. On the right wall we’re cages, some low level digimon were in them. It never hurt to have test subjects around. In front of them, a large control panel, and beside it, two tanks that held his partners, Tentomon and Betamon. The two of them were mere puppets now, and it did him better to keep them in tanks, so he could monitor them. 

He turned his head and noticed Aison peeking around, and he made sure to put an end to it quickly. Raising his hand and jerking it down, a holographic monitor pulled down, and a few more panels opened around him. 

“This is what I wanted to ask you about,” Aison turned toward him as a figure appeared on the screen. “I’m still not certain of what Chaosmon wants with Perfect Jogress digimon, or what particular makes them ‘Perfect’, but I know this will rival his power.” Aison pondered the screen for a few seconds, looking over numbers and the figure. 

“It’s an interesting specimen, but not what I would consider ‘Perfect’.”

“With these numbers, it surpasses Omnimon, how could it not be Perfect?” Toshiro shouted, losing his cool for a minute. 

“That’s the thing with you, Toshiro. Gave everything up for power, but realized it wasn’t yours. You’ve handed the world to Chaosmon, you don’t really believe it’s going to hand it back?” Aison smirked and walked over to the caged digimon. “You’re no better than these caged digimon. And let me tell you something,” he turned back around and smiled at Toshiro, “they’re planning on over powering you, someday.” He began to head towards the door, as Toshiro turned back to his monitors, analyzing all the numbers again in frustration. “Your math’s not wrong, just your viewpoint,” he began to laugh as the door opened. Aison turned as it began to shut, as before he disappeared behind it, he muttered one more thing. 

“Maybe you should field test it instead of crunching numbers?”

As the door slammed shut, Toshiro began to shake in anger. How could Aison read him so well? And what was his purpose in all of this anyway? He remembered back to right after the worlds joined, and Chaosmon set up this council. He had chosen Mastemon because it was a Perfect, as well as Involving Examon for the same reason. But Examon, at the last battle with Gallantmon, was a mindless beast. Something had changed to make it not only coherent, but with enough knowledge to overwhelm most. Something happened, and he wasn’t even sure Aison knew what that was. Not only that, but it didn’t really seem like the two were even aligned together, Aison did whatever he wanted, and barely ever spoke of Examon. At one time it was questioned that he was lying about his connection to Examon, but it made it very clear that it was using Aison as a figurehead, sending the message to Chaosmon itself. 

He had planned to ask him a few question on Examon, and some other small, less important things, but he let his anger overcome him again. He did get an answer on his main question, though. He needed to field test. 

——— 

His hands rested in his pockets, as he walked causally through the villa that Chaosmon had claimed his own. He had lit the flame in Toshiro, which was all he had planned to do in the first place. That, and get rid of a few more of the council, which by now, he knew he had taken care of. Atlas was back with Jude, the two of them posed a major threat to Chaosmon, even if it wouldn’t admit it. All that remained was to leave this place, but Aison really wanted to see what else he could see. 

The villa was nearly empty. A few humans were kept around, mainly to service Toshiro. More digimon were here, but Aison didn’t think Chaosmon let them enter the building. He didn’t know where Chaosmon stayed, he would love to get some data from that area, but he knew he wouldn’t be allowed to wander for much longer. As he walked a Sangloupmon passed him, and Aison knew it was sent to check on him. What a pity, he wasn’t done yet. 

Once he got far enough away, he tapped the wall with his left hand, and a shadow left him, attaching and sliding around the wall. This was all he could do for now, that made the third one he had left here, one at the meeting, and one with Toshiro. He called it, Symbiomon, an artificial digimon he had created. It had no level, and wasn’t a combat digimon, but it had its uses, like infiltration. It was like his partner digimon, if he wanted to compare it to them. Much like his younger sister’s partners, Symbiomon came to him in an egg, but but differently than her, he created the egg, and made it his own. He didn’t need to be chosen, he had the ability to choose for himself. 

As he stepped outside, the breeze blew in his face, and he took in a deep breath. 

“Life is so relaxing,” he laughed as he began to walk towards the helicopter that brought him here. It didn’t have a pilot, he was smart enough to have it pilot itself, not that either of these two digimon would trust anyone with their locations. It lifted off the ground and headed back to his base, or rather, Examon’s base. 

When the two worlds came together, Examon took the opportunity before everything settled to change the code, and made a refuge in the side of a mountain. It took Aison quite some time to find it, and when he did, it almost took his life. 

It would probably kill him now, if it had the chance. But he was valuable right now, and he used it to his advantage. Before the helicopter reached the mountain, it laned on another, smaller hill. As they descended, it opened up, revealing it as a large metal facility, mainly, Aison’s lab. 

He climbed out and firmly planted his feet. He didn’t feel the need to contact Examon at the moment, it wasn’t concerned with Chaosmon, anyway. For now he walked over to his chair, which sat under a long desk, the wall behind it pitch black. 

“Alright, Symbiomon, let’s see what you see,” suddenly the wall began to move, shifting until it showed a blurred image on it. Symbiomon wasn’t just a small digimon, it was an entity that could break apart, expand, contrast, not set to a certain size or shape. It was realistically a new life form all together, a sort of parasite that could do just about anything. 

The image first showed the room that the council met in, and there wasn’t anything particularly interesting going on, so it changed to Toshiro’s lab. Toshiro was still there, plugging in equations and running his temples in frustration. That boy was a walking bomb, and would explode soon. He had hoped he already would have, but it would come eventually. The image shifted again, but this time, it didn’t show anything. He found that strange, it hadn’t been destroyed, but wasn’t coming through. He didn’t understand why, but he continued anyway. He had one more he wanted to check. The last image appeared and was showing his sister’s face, as though it was sitting in her lap. 

“Poor Akiko,” he grinned, “you must hate your brother.”

——— 

Kenta searched Akiko’s belongings, just to an extent though. Akiko wasn’t letting everything get checked, which he could understand. Made things difficult, but he would manage. She sat across from him on the bed, Tsukaimon resting beside her and Kuramon’s egg between her legs. Olmmon helped in the best way he knew how, climbing up in the bed also and taking a nap. It was fine, he didn’t really need help with this. Kenta has designed Atlas’s goggles, and had made some very similar to help with searches like this. He wore them and everything he looked at brought up the digital make up of the item. Everything had digital makeup now, so anything could be tampered with. 

But he couldn’t find anything. Everything seemed so normal. 

“I don’t know, Akiko. I can’t,” he looked up and paused. 

“What’s wrong,” she stood up and held the egg close to her. 

“There’s data kind of swirling around Kuramon.” He didn’t really believe what he was seeing. Everything he looked at through the goggles showed its make up, which turned everything a foggy grey color, and have the information come up to the side. The egg however, had the data circling around it, and it was a deep black color, unlike anything else he had seen. “Something’s wring with Kuramon’s egg.”

She lay the egg down and stepped away, trying to figure out what he was seeing. She began to think back to the last time she saw Aison, and then it hit her. 

She remembered that he was very concerned about Kuramon, and was talking in circles like he always did. He took the egg from her but she jerked it away from him quickly. He hadn’t been acting himself, and she didn’t want anything to happen to Kuramon. 

“Aison, why?” She began to tear up and hugged the egg. As she did, it felt like it shed a skin, and peeled away to show a large crack in the egg. Kenta jumped up and grabbed her, pulling her away. Through the goggles he watched the figure climb up the wall, and disappear out of a small window. 

“I don’t know what that was, but I’d say that’s our culprit.” Kenta let go of Akiko, and she ran to the egg. She picked it up, and it began to glow. After a flask of light, Kuramon sat in her arms, staring up at her. Confusion covered both of their faces, but it wasn’t long before Akiko wrapped Kuramon up in her arms, and began to sob. 

“It’s been so long.”

——— 

Atlas walked along side Jude, looking to see where Akiko and Kenta had ran off to. They had a bit of small talk, but it seemed as though the urgency of the situation took al the talk out of them. Veemon and Wormmon were close to Atlas’s side, as Gabumon and Agumon hung behind the crowd. The decision was made that the digidestined would set out to find a base, while the rest stayed behind. Realistically it was the smartest call, they were after them anyway, it wasn’t likely they would attack the base without them being there. They were almost to Akiko’s room when they heard her cry out, and they al began to run. 

Within seconds, they had the door open and had flooded the room, all to see her holding Kuramon in her arm. They all sighed, but the digimon rushed to greet their friend. Kuramon never really talked, she just made noises, and it never digivolved, other than the one time. But nonetheless she was still apart of the team, and everyone had missed her. Even Atlas, who was still uncertain about giving her the ability to multiply. 

To no one’s surprise though, Kuramon looked around the room lost. She had been deleted, reverted back to an egg, meaning her memories were gone. And the only way for her to regain them was Kenta’s reboot program he made. Atlas grimaced at the idea, but knew it was up to Akiko. 

They gave them time to calm down before telling the plan, and soon after, they all departed. 

They all headed towards the forest, back to the gate Atlas and Akiko had traveled through to get there, and exited into the same demolished city they had came from. Atlas pulled his goggles down to scope the area, not seeing anything right off the bat. 

“Alright everyone, it’s been awhile since we all were together like this,” he looked back and instantly had flashbacks to them years ago, two more shadows lingered in the back. “Jude in the back, Akiko and Kenta in the middle. As soon as there is trouble, we go champion, can’t go all out and waste all of our energy. We need out of the city, or to find a way to move the digital shift to a safer location. Either will work.” The group complied quickly. Veemon took Atlas’s lead, and Wormmon hopped on his shoulder, and they were off. 

——— 

Chaosmon was resting it’s body, in a slumbering state, when it heard a loud explosion. It instantly woke, making its way to the blast. It came from Toshiro’s lab, the doors were blown open. As it entered, the wall was completely gone, and so was Toshiro. 

“That foolish child will get himself killed.” The smoke filled the hallways of the villa, making it hard to see anything. For a moment, Chaosmon felt another presence, but it quickly vanished. 

“Everything is starting to fall into place, Toshiro. Don’t ruin it.” It turned, and returned to its resting position, unaware of the digimon on its back. 

——— 

Toshiro rode on the back of Kabuterimon, Betamon sat in front of him. The two mindless digimon made for terrible company, not like they use to. His mind floated back to the time before all of this, but he shook the thoughts away quickly. No time for doubting myself he thought to himself. He made his call, to become the strongest, and he was about to reach that level. Once he found an opponent, and he knew who it had to be. 

“Come Jude, I’m ready for you this time.” 

Kabuterimon took off in the direction that Aison had given them all, ready to take down his friends. Once they arrived, they landed, and began to destroy building and stray digimon. 

“If they’re around, they will come.” His eyes widened and his anger grew. “Come out, Digidestined! Come and face me!” 

And it seemed as though as soon as he asked, two showed up quickly. XVeemon jumped up, blasting a V laser at Kabuterimon, but it didn’t even bother him. Stingmon snuck up and swung at Toshiro, and Betamon quickly evolved and knocked him back. 

“Well, you weren’t the ones I was looking for, but I guess you will do.” Toshiro looked up at the two flying digimon, as the anger continue to build. About that time, a fist connected to his face. Atlas’s fist. 

“Well, I couldn’t tell you how long I’ve wanted to do that,” he smirked as he launched himself at him again, throwing another punch towards his face. Toshiro dodged those one, making him punch the concrete below them. He rolled away, and regained his footing quickly. “Still a slippery bastard, aren’t ya?”

“Still all y’all, aren’t you?” The two locked eyes for a moment, before Seadramon shot a blast towards Atlas. XVeemon blocked the attack, and tackled the serpent. About the time they hit the water front, Jude and the others appeared, digimon already evolved and ready to fight. Axolmmom, the champion level of Olmmon, jumped right in the water and joined the fight against Seadramon. Wendigomon kicked off of the surrounding buildings, getting in the air next to Kabuterimon, ready to strike. The tamers looped around the corner, Greymon and Garurumon there to protect them. 

“Well the gangs all together again. How I’ve missed you all,” Toshiro began to laugh, one hand gripping the side of his head. “I hope I’m not a disappointment to you all,” he jerked his head down to look at them all. 

“Hell, we might as well get you out of the way.” Atlas places himself between the group and the enemy. “Without you, there’s not much more standing in our way.” 

“Do you really think it will be that easy, Atlas?” His demeanor changed completely, “Do you believe that I’ve done nothing these few years? That I would allow you two to stand in my way again?” He lunged toward Atlas and landed his fist into his stomach. “I have gained more power than all of you combined, and just for a small sacrifice.” Kenta snapped his gaze at Toshiro, his blood boiled. 

“A small sacrifice you say? Do you mean to tell me Naota was just a stepping stone for you? What about Elecmon, or your partners? You’ve lost them, too right? All of them were just in your way?” He charged Toshiro and grabbed him by the collar, and launched him into the river. Kenta dives in after him, and instantly fused with Olmmon, becoming TridentOlmmon, and held Toshiro up in the air between the blades of their trident. “You deserve every send of what’s coming to you, you bastard.” Ignoring his friends asking him to stop in the background, TridentOlmmon tossed Toshiro up, and jabbed his trident towards his stomach. About that time, HerculesKabuterimon grabbed him and lifted him from safety, as MetalSeadramon wrapped around TridentOlmmon. 

“You let your anger consume you, Kenta!” Toshiro laughed, “you’re the same as myself!” He leaped up to the back of his digimon, and turned back to face them all. “All of you, face me at once! I’m not in the mood to play around!” 

Atlas looked at Jude and nodded. They both raised their digivice and began to jogress. Omnimon and Imperialdramon fighter mode landed on the ground, and both darted towards the enemy.


End file.
